


For A Good Reason

by Starshaker



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Friendship/Love, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Strangers to Lovers, Succubi & Incubi, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-14 22:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15398916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starshaker/pseuds/Starshaker
Summary: “My son is an incubus.” The sheriff said and shot a glance across to Derek. Derek only caught the glance out of the corner of his eye and kept his eyes on the darkened road ahead. “And he’s refusing to feed,”Out of fear of hurting anyone Stiles had refused to feed for over a month by the time the Sheriff resorts to finding someone he can have sex with safely, and Derek Hale is a werewolf which means he'd be less affected by his son's powers. So in return, he offers all he can. A home, a family, and as it turns out, Derek doesn't mind.





	For A Good Reason

 

He kept his head down as he crossed the street between emergency vehicles. His hoodie was soaked through from the rain that hadn’t eased in days, and he didn’t want to look up and see the graffiti carved into the paintwork of his car. He’d already heard enough of the officer’s muttered assumptions about him and his state of mind.

“Derek Hale.” The sheriff called out from behind him, and he stopped in his tracks. He shoved his keys back in his pocket and turned on the spot. The smell of smoke hung in the air, and Derek swallowed to try and clear his throat. 

“We need to talk, and you need to not drive a car that’s probably had its brakes cut,”

“Thanks for your concern, but I’d smell the fluid if it’d leaked out,” Derek said plainly. 

“We’ve already established I know what you are son, I’m offering you the best protection I have.” The Sheriff said. Derek snorted.

“Not dead yet.” Derek said.

“Your apartments still smouldering, where else are you going to go?”

“There’ll still be bars open,” Derek said. The Sheriff didn’t reply but Derek heard an uptick in his heartbeat. He was sincere in his offer of protection and yet nervous about something else. Derek refused to believe it was a fear for Derek’s own safety.

“Fine,” Derek conceded, “but I’m not going to the station again,”

“Understandable,” The Sheriff said. He turned to walk up the street. Derek glanced back up towards his flat and sighed heavily before following the Sheriff to his patrol car.

\--

The Sheriff drummed his fingers on the wheel as he drove despite there being no music on the radio nor updates broadcast to them from the BHPD. Derek had seen the Sheriff mess with the dials before he’d gotten into the car but hadn’t cared enough to notice what had been done. He imagined telling Laura what a privilege it was to ride in the front of a police car after the past few months he’d had.

“My son is an incubus.” The sheriff said and shot a glance across to Derek. Derek only caught the glance out of the corner of his eye and kept his eyes on the darkened road ahead. “And he’s refusing to feed,”

“Then he’ll die.” Derek said. 

“I know.” He said quietly.

He pulled into the driveway of a modest house in the suburbs and turned off the engine

“There are runes all around the house; you’ll be protected here. You can stay as long as you want. We can get some runes made up for you so you’ll be a little more protected when you’re out and about too.”

“Why are you doing this?” Derek asked.

“It’s my job to help if I’m able,” the Sheriff said but a slight uptick in his heart rate and a tension in his posture gave him away. 

“And your son?”

“If you don’t help him, my son is more than likely going to die,” The sheriff said. Derek eyed him silently. The sheriff tightened his grip on the wheel and kept his eyes straight ahead of him.

“Let him feed off you. You’re a werewolf, you can recover. He won’t feed because he almost killed someone, and Derek, I can’t lose my son.” 

“A roof over my head in return for being a regular meal for your son,”

“No.” The Sheriff said quickly, “You can stay here anyway. I, I.” He said and shook his head. He took a steadying breath and schooled his features. 

“I’d like somewhere to stay. And if I’m staying I should meet him,”

“He’d like that,” 

\--

“How long since he last...fed?” Derek asked as he climbed the last few stairs to the first floor. 

“A month.” The sheriff said as he knocked sharply on the door and opened it slowly. The smell of stale air and misery caught in the air.

“How long since he left his bed?” Derek asked as he peered inside.

“Other than for the bathroom, about two weeks,”

“Thanks Dad,” a reply came from beneath the bed covers.

“Just wait here a second,” the Sheriff said to Derek, holding out a hand to stop him as though entering a dangerous space when he stepped inside his son’s room. “Stiles, you need to feed. How much longer do you think you can lie here?”

“I’m changing my vocation, I’m losing the incubi crap, and taking up monster under the bed duties. That feels like it’ll pan out better.”

“You have to feed again. Just…”

“He’s not my type,” Stiles muttered. Derek rolled his eyes and glanced around the hallway to the pictures. Mostly family or holiday photographs by the look of them. It made him wonder how long it would realistically take him to reach the border and flee to Mexico or South America

“I can’t live with hurting someone else!” The outburst from Stiles caught Derek’s attention again and he glanced back into the room. 

“And I can’t live with you dead, Stiles!” the sheriff shouted back and seconds later he strode back out of the room and waved Derek in. 

“You’re up son,”

“That didn’t sound like an invitation,” Derek muttered.

“I don’t care,” he said bluntly, “Please help him.” The sheriff turned and headed down the stairs and Derek heard a door shut hard.

"Who the hell are you?" The boy snapped from beneath the covers 

"Ghost of Christmas Future." Derek deadpanned. He glanced around the room and was struck by the thought that the town’s sheriff may have just coerced him into having sex with a minor.

"I don't have much interest in seeing where they'll bury me." Stiles answered. Derek circled the room slowly, when he glanced over to the bed he could see Stiles watching him although there was little more than a mess of hair down to the bridge of his nose visible.

“What brings you, a complete stranger, to my bedroom?” Stiles asked.

“I...Your father is blackmailing me into living here so you can regularly feed.”

“He’s nice like that, but I don’t need to almost kill anyone else, thanks,”

“I’m a werewolf, it’ll take more than one feeding every few days to kill me,” Derek said. He hesitated by the desk and opened the cover of a book of on medieval Scotland

“What’s he blackmailing you with? Are you some sort of hardened criminal or something? ‘cause if he’s getting a pardon for some drug dealer then I am definitely not playing this game.” Stiles asked. A shuffling gave Stiles away that he was moving up the bed and out of the cocoon of blankets.

 

“I’m not a drug trafficker.” Derek said.

“I could always ask him y’know,” Stiles asked as Derek scanned the first introduction page.. Derek looked up from the book and levelled a look at Stiles who’d pushed himself to sit up in the bed.

“I’ve been in handcuffs three times in four weeks and someone set fire to my apartment,”

“Then I can tell you right now that you should definitely not be here. Therapy maybe, a relaxing retreat somewhere nice?” Stiles suggested.

“I have to stay in town until they’re sure I didn’t set fire to my own place,” Derek said, “I’ve got nowhere else to go and your dad’s helping me. I’m going to agree to this in return,” Derek gestured between himself and Stiles with a cursory wave.

“That doesn’t sound cheap at all,” He drawled.

“You're not the one being used for sex.”

“Incubi have been kept as sex pets y’know,” Stiles told him indignantly, “It’s not all sunshine and rainbows on this end y’know. A werewolf should know better.”

“I used to be told to avoid you if I could,” Derek said. His grandmother used to tell him stories of all sorts of supernaturals; the ones who would seek protection from them and the ones who would seek to hurt them. It seemed that the world was still just as black and white as she’d told him.

“Why?”

“Probably because of scenarios like this.” Derek mused. Stiles scoffed.

“Yeah because those good old werewolf wives’ tales tell you not to say something cursed out loud three times or a good ol’ incubi will own your ass,” Stiles said.

“You don’t look like you could own much at the moment.” Derek conceded and Stiles stared back at him unimpressed.

“Funny guy.” Stiles deadpanned.

Derek rolled his eyes and sat on the desk chair and returned his attention to the book. He could feel Stiles was watching him. He continued to read the book for a few more minutes until he reached the end of the introduction before he looked up again. Stiles was aiming his phone at him. The sound of the camera shutter broke the silence and then Stiles ducked his head to type out what sounded like an essay. Derek very nearly returned to the book when Stiles looked up and frowned.

“So I guess this is a thing that’s going to happen,” Stiles said as he dropped the phone on the bedside table. “Like, I don’t actually want to die and you are in a much better position to survive if I lose control again.” Stiles said. “I’d say I’ll go easy on you but...So you actually know what you’re agreeing to, this won’t be a smooth ride y’know, I am so far past feeding I might…”

“If you knocked me out for a week, I’d probably be grateful,” Derek said. Stiles paused and frowned again briefly.

“Okay but like, just to be clear, what problems are you anticipating? Like, list your top five,”

“I don’t have a top five.” Derek said and shook his head. He hadn’t anticipated so much discussion over the possibility of a sure act.

“Okay I’ll go first. One, I kill you, two, you kill me, three, I start thinking about the fact that my dad just coerced someone into having sex with me-” Stiles started and Derek could hear his heartbeat picking up. He found is surprising though that he considered it worse that he’d hurt a stranger than if a said stranger were to hurt him.

Derek was reminded of his own experience, at eighteen after just starting college he had to shift in an unfamiliar pack’s territory. A necessary and natural enough occurrence for a werewolf away from home territory but he’d been so anxious he’d very nearly ended up back in a densely populated area half-shifted. For weeks he kept think back to the danger he’d put other people in.

“It is to save your life.” Derek said. Stiles gave a humourless laugh.

“Not dead yet.” Stiles said offhandedly, “But we’re doing this aren’t we?” He added, “I don’t actually want to die and you can heal better than your average person,” 

“What do you want me to do?” Derek asked. 

“You’ll need to be within touching distance so…” Stiles said. Derek pushed himself up off the chair and crossed to the bed. Stiles’ constant movements, the shifting in place and his frenetic hand movements made it clear that his anxiety was barely concealed, and Derek pushed down his own apprehension. The mattress dipped beneath his weight. He kept his eyes on Stiles’ hands to keep his own nerves at bay. 

“Uh just sit there, maybe lean back a bit, you probably don’t want to slip off the bed,” Stiles said and Derek shot him a questioning look. Stiles reached out a hand to Derek’s upper arm and hesitated when Derek glanced up. 

“I can, uh, get the process started... Is this going to be okay?” Stiles asked.Derek nodded and watched Stiles nod in return. Stiles flexed his fingers against Derek’s skin and a warmth started to spread from the point of touch. 

He felt like he wanted to lean up into the touch and in turn to Stiles. He tensed and kept from reaching out. He restrained himself only so long until the warmth hit his lower gut where it grew into a roaring warmth that filled his veins. He looked to Stiles and saw Stiles’ pupils blow dark and wide. His arm shot out on impulse to grab Stiles’ waist and pull him closer. The movement caught Stiles off guard and he released Derek’s arm as he braced himself against Derek’s chest and the bed. 

“Derek,” Stiles whined, “I, I need,”

“Take what you need,” Derek said through gasping breaths. Half of his mind wanted this to be over as quickly as possible and the other wanted to give in to the feelings and urges Stiles had summoned up inside him. His hands shook as he pulled at Stiles’ shirt and Stiles pushed them away. Stiles dipped his head and his forehead rested against Derek's shoulder 

“Bet you never thought you’d be doing this with your pants on.”

“I,” Derek started to speak but his breath escaped him. His chest felt constricted and he couldn't take a full breath as the muscles in his chest spasmed and sharp pains seemed to dig into his lungs like knives. He felt Stiles pull up sharply and saw him staring down at Derek, dark irises and a worried expression. His lips were moving but Derek couldn’t hear what he was saying. Derek lifted a hand towards Stiles’ neck but only reached his shoulder before he lost consciousness.

\--

“Derek? Derek, come on,” Derek opened his eyes to see Stiles hovering over him. A worried expression on his face. His hair had changed though; it was now damp and pushed back. 

“What happened?” Derek asked.

“I fed, kind of. You passed out.” Stiles said as he sat back on his feet and pushed himself back until he sat with his back against the foot of the bed. Derek focussed on the kid’s heartbeat; still racing but settling into a steady rhythm.

“Right.” Derek said and shut his eyes for a long moment. His heart was still pumping at a strong, fast pace and his chest felt tight. He tried to flex his hands and his fingers barely twitched.

“I threw up by the way, if you can smell something funky.” Stiles said. Derek opened his eyes and eyed Stiles warily. Stiles seemed just as animated as prior to the...experience. 

“Why can’t I move?” Derek asked.

“Muscle exhaustion, after effects of the young and desperate incubi experience,” Stiles said sheepishly. “Its temporary, and I wasn’t really in control, but uh, you probably feel like you’ve just been in a hit and run so, sorry. The last person ended up in a coma for like a week but I swear it shouldn’t happen like that,” Stiles said and shrugged one shoulder, “I can leave.”

“You look exhausted,” Derek said. As soon as he’d spoken he wondered where the concern had come from. 

“Got that right.” Stiles said. He smiled but kept his eyes down on the bedcovers. 

“Did you feed well enough?”

“Uh, I think. For a couple of days at least,” Stiles said and glanced up at Derek, “Not that I’m saying we should definitely do this again in two days time but you don’t fix energy starvation in one sitting y’know,”

“I think I’ll need to borrow some clothes,” Derek said “If I’m staying here,”

“Yeah, I get that. Already grabbed some stuff that might fit you.” He nodded towards the door. Derek tried to look but couldn’t turn his head far enough.

“I don’t really know if it’s better or worse for you that I didn’t get your clothes off at this point,” Stiles said.

Derek couldn’t think of a reasonable reply and Stiles filled the gap in conversation for them both anyway.

“How’d my dad figure out that you’re a werewolf?” Stiles asked.

“He’s a detective.” Derek answered. 

“And?” Stiles gestured for him to elaborate.

“He’s familiar with the supernatural,” Derek added which earned a cry of frustration from Stiles and a bored glare.

“Fine. you’re a closed book. I get that.” Stiles huffed and scooted to the edge of the bed and stood with a strained effort, “Sleep it off, big guy,” He said as he dropped a hand briefly on Derek’s leg as he stood. “I’m going to get the spare room set up,”

Derek listened as Stiles headed down the hallway and entered a room nearby. He wasn’t going to shut his eyes let alone sleep if he could help it. He flexed his hands again and found laurathat he’d regained his movement if not his strength as his muscles protested with aching pains. His legs moved in a similar fashion as he pulled himself up and sat on the edge of the bed. It was as though he’d trained too hard and for too long. Like when he and Laura had first arrived in New York.

“The sheets are as light and breezy as your personality,” Stiles said under his breath. Derek wondered how much Stiles knew of werewolves and their enhanced senses when he carried on. “Just trying to make you feel at home,” he said and Derek heard his footsteps head back out of the room and returning to him. 

“The most valuable stuff we have in the house is either my laptop or my Mom’s jewelry and if you steal either of those things I’ll hunt you down and do horrible things to you,” He said as he reached the bedroom door. His calm words were without a hint of humour. 

Derek stood and nodded once; despite the way Stiles’ eyelids drooped Derek was decidedly not going to challenge someone who could paralyse others with little more than a touch and an innate supernatural ability.

“I’m going back to bed, feel free to take the book with you,” Stiles said, waving to the desk. Derek sidestepped Stiles as the boy headed for the bed and fell face-first into the pillow.

“Thanks,” Derek said. He nabbed the book on his way out.

\--

Derek shoved himself up to his feet sharply, scented the air and eyed the unfamiliar surroundings all in the seconds before he realised he was still in the haze of sleep. He’d intended to read until he was sure that there were no threats in the area. Until at least he’d been able to question Stiles and his father about the actual protection around the house. He’d fallen asleep anyway and frustration surged inside him at his lack of vigilance. It had been dark out when he’d last looked up from his book and now bright sunshine streamed through the window beside him but he had no gauge on how long he’d been unconscious.

He rolled his neck and shoulders and tried to focus on calming himself when he realised that he wasn’t the only one with a racing heartbeat in the house. Downstairs Stiles and his father were talking. Derek supposed that if Stiles hadn’t left his room in the past few weeks it was an achievement in itself that he’s fed and slept enough to venture down to the kitchen.

He listened to their conversation as he changed into the clothes that had been left for him by the guest room door. The shirt was a little tight on him but it was clean and unscented. The sweatpants too seemed practically unused. He hoped to have at least some of his belongings returned soon but the fire had been intense and he suspected most would be too badly damaged.

 

His scalp itched from the rain and smoke and he raked his fingers through his hair a few times to try and relieve the feeling before he left the sanctuary of the guest room.

 

“And in case you haven’t noticed Dad, Derek’s terrifying.” Stiles said. “Like one hundred percent I could believe he killed someone. Me. If, like I used his toothbrush, or stole all the blankets in the middle of the night.”

“You’re not actually sharing a bed. He’s got his own room.”

“We’ll potentially share one enough for it to be a valid concern!” Stiles said. Derek snorted and he carefully descended the stairs. Every step was piled high with files and junk.

“There’s no evidence Derek’s killed anyone.” The sheriff said.

“Prove it.”

“You’re not seeing the casefile.” The sheriff said firmly. Derek lingered at the bottom of the stairs and took in the stack of books on the TV cabinet and the well worn two-person sofa across from it. The house only seemed to look and smell of the two of them living there and still it was crowded, every corner full of boxes and clothes and books. 

Derek had the feeling if he lingered in their living room for too long he’d be caught listening in so he took a step towards the kitchen until he could be seen by the Sheriff at least. He was leant against the counter on the other side of the table with a mug of coffee in his hand. 

“That was not my point, like at all,” Stiles objected but his tone suggested otherwise. “You know you can bring stuff home and there is a _tiny_ chance that I’d be interested in any of it.”

“What a shame. I overheard Parrish saying he wanted to discuss a series of pickpocket thefts with you,” The Sheriff said. He glanced to Derek, an amused expression pulled at his mouth. 

He caught sight of where his dad’s gaze had landed and he turned to Derek

“He doesn’t want to discuss anything, he wants to accuse me of it,” Stiles said, as if justifying himself to Derek. “You have told him that I’ve been too sick to do anything of the sort for the past few weeks. He’s trying too hard, don’t you think?” Stiles asked his dad and then glanced back to Derek. Stiles nudged the box of bran flakes in Derek’s direction and Derek nodded in thanks as he took a seat. 

“He’s smart, and crime rates happen to go down when you’re indisposed. I like my detectives to recognise patterns,” The sheriff said. Stiles leant back on his chair until he only balanced on two legs as he pulled open a cupboard and retrieved a bowl that he placed on the table in front of Derek and then leant back further still to open a drawer for a spoon.

“Rude. That’s rude and accusatory,” Stiles said and in gesturing at the same time as coming to rest on four legs of his chair he knocked his hand hard against the table edge. He gasped and cradled his hand to his chest. Derek ignored Stiles’ injury and reached for the milk from across the table.

“You going to see Scott today?” The Sheriff asked as he threw the dregs of his coffee into the sink.

“Probably best he doesn’t think I’m dying anymore.” Stiles said and reached for his phone and began typing with his uninjured hand. After typing out a quick message he dropped it back on the table. 

“He might be busy.” Stiles said distractedly. The phone near instantly vibrated on the table and Stiles grabbed for it. “Defur-balling cats and sticking guinea pigs with needles, y’know, the fun stuff.”

“Just try to stay out of trouble,” The Sheriff added, “I’ll see you later, I need some sleep before my next shift,” He dropped a hand to Derek’s shoulder as he passed. Derek nearly dropped the milk at the touch and willed down a flush as the milk hit the table harder than necessary.

“Yeah, night Dad,” Stiles said without looking up from typing out a new message on his phone.

Derek ate his cereal in silence as Stiles texted back to near constant replies. Ten minutes passed and Derek stood to wash his bowl and spoon. He reached to turn the tap on when Stiles huffed and a heavy thunk hit the table. Derek kept his head down and his attention on his task.

“So how are you feeling?” Stiles asked. 

“Not so much like I was in a hit and run anymore.”

“Good. That’s good,” Stiles said.

“Do you need to feed again?” Derek asked and turned slightly to look over his shoulder at Stiles.

“No. no. Definitely not. You absolutely should not be up for that all over again so soon.”

“Okay.” Derek nodded and reached for the tea towel to dry up.

“So what are you doing today?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are people likely to be waiting around every corner if you go out?”

“It’s not clear who is behind it. I don’t know who I’m avoiding.”

“But in broad daylight?”

“I was shot at two days ago when I was up at the preserve. Broad daylight.”

“Were you up at the old Hale house? Cause that place is pretty deserted,”

“Yes.” Derek said.

“Hunters probably staked it out then right?” Stiles asked. Derek shrugged. When he’d headed up there he’d hoped to spot any traps or odd scents but it wasn't until a shot had hit the boarding behind him and another grazed his leg that he’d realised he wasn’t alone. He’d sprinted to the nearest tunnel Peter had shown him as a hideaway and fled for over over two miles underground before he’d surfaced and headed back into town. 

“This house is safe y’know,” Stiles said and Derek snapped his head up. Stiles was on his feet eyeing him warily and Derek wasn’t sure how long how long he’d zoned out for. 

“Totally safe. I promise,”

“How?” Derek asked, his voice sharper than he meant it to be.

“Uh, How much do you know about wards and uh, magic.”

“I know our emissary sorted our territories’ wards. I don’t know what he did,”

“Oh well, ours are a bit different anyway,” Stiles said. “That book on the corner of the counter, “ He gestured and Derek saw a journal file stuffed with odd pages at least two inches thick. He was certain he hadn’t seen it before. 

“Yeah no. Concealed until pointed out. If you weren’t expecting to find it there you wouldn’t have. Cool huh?” Stiles stepped up beside him and hefted the pages apart. The pages were covered in splashes and smears of different substances. Derek couldn’t help his pinched expression when he caught the smell of blood, from various sources. 

“Blood magic?”

“Safest we’ve got,” Stiles said assuredly.

“Blood magic is the most dangerous to get right,” Derek said. He was hesitant to reach out lest the book be cursed in some way.

“We got it right,” Stiles insisted and elbowed Derek’s side. “This stuff has been passed down ever since the grimoire was gifted to Great Grammie Moldawski,”

“How does it..?” Derek gestured to the book, still wary of actually touching its cover or pages.

“Nothing that wants to cause us malicious harm can get past the pavement, let alone into the house,” Stiles said proudly. “There’s more to it but we’re covered. You’re safe. I promise. I’ll redo these myself if that’ll make you feel better about it,”

“Do you feel safe? You’re an incubus, The hunters would want to kill you just as much if they knew what you were,”

“I’ll be alright.” Stiles said. He ran his hand down one of the pages. “What was it like for you, when you were coming into your powers?”

“I had awful control. My little sister found her anchor before I did,”

“You ever hurt anyone?” Stiles asked quietly.

“Yes.”

“They end up in the hospital?” Stiles asked, a nervous edge in his voice remind Derek of himself. 

“Yeah.”

“Malia. The girl who… she went into a coma. She’s disappeared.” Stiles said and the sharp bitter scent of shame hit the air and Derek was stood too close to Stiles to avoid it.

“Disappeared?” Derek asked

“Yeah, she was out cold on a hospital bed and then not there when they next checked she was gone. She couldn’t have woken up and just vanished,” Stiles said. He shut the grimoire hard and a haze of dust wafted out and several pages slipped from place.

“I should be out there helping with the search. Dad said they were still early stages but-,” Stiles said.

“She’ll be okay. Her parents probably took her home without telling anyone,”

“It’s only her dad. Her mom and sister died in a car crash when she was little,”

“She can’t have gotten out of there on her own.” Derek said and raised a hand over Stiles’ back but couldn’t bring himself to complete the reassuring gesture as anyone else would be able to. Stiles pulled away a few seconds later and Derek dropped his hand away out of sight.

“I know. Anyway, I’m gonna go meet up with Scott,” Stiles said and grabbed his phone from the table. “His mom’s a nurse up at the hospital. She’d be up to date with anything going on,” There was a slight uptick in Stiles’ heartbeat but Derek couldn’t tell if it was a lie or the stress of the news. Derek hesitated in the doorway of the kitchen as Stiles circled the living room, grabbed his jacket from the couch and his keys from the sideboard and headed towards the front door without looking back.

“I’ll see you later ok,” Stiles said as he reached for the door and Derek watched the door shut behind him. 

Then the house was quiet. He could hear the Sheriff’s steady breathing from the floor above but it was still unsettling to be in their home alone. Especially not fully knowing what the protections entailed. He heard a car rumble to life in the drive and guessed it was Stiles leaving. Derek stepped back to the kitchen and after a moment of eyeing the book up he moved the grimoire to the table. 

He had a rudimentary grasp of a handful of languages but as he skimmed through each page of the grimoire each page seemed to be written in a different hand. Language and symbols. Some were just pages of runes and others were entirely blank though Derek suspected there was more to them than met the eye. He closed the book and leant back in the chair with a sigh. 

He needed to get out of the house. There were too many unfamiliar sights and smells and he needed something to ground himself. 

\--

Derek headed out to the preserve and the burnt out shell of his childhood home. From what he’d seen of it previously enough kids have used it as a place to get drunk and cover the few standing walls in graffiti. He’s on the ridge of a mound a few hundred feet away when he froze at the scent of Stiles in the air. There was no sign of another car in the area but he could have parked at a distance and walked. 

As he waited and listened for sounds of company a girl with waves of red hair stormed out of the house and dropped to sit on the front steps. 

“Lydia!” Stiles shouted from inside. He appeared at the door and said something to her and she shook her head without looking up at him. He stared at her for a few seconds longer before he turned on his heel and headed back into the house. The girl glanced up through the trees in Derek’s direction. He kept still and when there was no change in her breathing or heartbeat to suggest she was surprised he suspected she hadn’t seen him. 

She flinched suddenly and looked behind her and then again to her right. She ducked her head down shut her eyes tight and pressed her hands to her ears. Derek strained to hear what she might be hearing but all he could find were the noises of the forest. A soft padding of a four legged creature caught his attention, a little way off but nearing from the other side of the house. He tried to pick out where Stiles was in the house and couldn’t pinpoint him from how far he was from the house. He backed away from view and circled the house. The footfalls vanished as he neared the area and Derek stood perfectly still for a minute as he scanned the undergrowth. The crunch of leaves behind him gave away the creature’s position and he turned slowly to see a coyote stepping out from the cover of bracken. 

A coyote wasn’t a threat to him but it’s behaviour was odd; it could surely smell that he was a werewolf. A threat. 

He growled low in his throat and flashed his eyes to scare it away and to his surprise the animal’s eyes flashed in return. An icy blue like his own. Not a second later it turned tail and fled through the trees.

“Whoa.” Derek turned sharply to see Stiles stood a dozen feet behind him. “What the hell?” Derek did a quick mental check that all of his features were still human passing and he strode towards Stiles

“What are you doing out here?” Derek asked. Stiles back-stepped quickly with his hands raised in defense.

“Just curious, I swear,” he said. He tripped over his own feet and threw his hands out to catch himself in lieu of retreating further. Derek scowled and then shot another look back into the woods.

“You said there were hunters up here the other day and you came back. Someone should really ask you what you’re doing up here,”

“I don’t like people in my house,”

“It’s not much of a house anymore, I gotta tell you,”

“It’s all I have left,”

“I need to get back to Lydia, especially if that coyote’s nearby,”

“She’s not.” Derek said, checking his hearing again but not picking up any large mammals in the area. “She fled.”

“She was a were though, right? I saw her eyes flash at you,”

“It is Beacon Hills.” Derek said and walked past Stiles and in through the backdoor of the house.

\--

Derek wandered aimlessly from room to room, or at least what was left of them. The blackened, disintegrating walls left a hollow feeling in his gut. He should have let Laura drag him back here to restore it earlier, and at the same time he should have never come back here at all.

When the light started to darken outside he knew he should head back to the Stilinskis’ home before the hunters tracked him down. 

He crossed back through the living room and as he headed towards the door out of habit he raised his hand to the beam over the doorway. It was the only thing holding the rest of the house up. He’d seen his Mom reach up to touch that beam every time she walked under it, he’d had pull up competitions against his Dad and Laura on that beam, as Peter had sat in the corner and laughed at them. Cora had hated that she was still too young and short to reach it. 

“ ‘M sorry Mom,” He said as he reached up again and pressed his hand to the beam. 

 

He took a deep breath and crossed the couple of steps to reach for the door. Another thing he was surprised was still standing. He half thought the girl was still sitting on the steps when he opened the door and saw someone sat there leant up against the bannister. It wasn’t the girl though. 

“Hey man, you doing alright?” Stiles asked as he looked up. He had his hoody wrapped tight around him and his hands shoved in his pockets. 

“Why are you still here?” Derek asked as he stepped around him on the stairs

“Not still here. I dropped Lydia home and came back.”

“Doesn’t answer why.” Derek muttered. 

“Because you said there were hunters out here, asshole, and I was trying to look out for you.”

“What would you have done if they had been out here?” Derek asked.

“That’s what the bat’s for,” Stiles dropped his hand to a baseball bat just out of sight at his side. 

“You’re going to take on hunters, with guns, with a bat,”

“Hit ‘em when they least suspect it. Works on coyote’s too,”

“I didn’t hear it come back,” Derek said. He didn’t mention that he hadn’t heard Stiles return either. 

“Nah, I haven’t seen it but I heard it when I was driving back up here.” Stiles said, “There’ll be enough hunters up here trying to track it down if anyone else sees it,”

“They’ll probably transform back soon. Not many can hold animal form indefinitely,” Derek said.

“I thought it was only a myth that werewolves and stuff could do that,”

“Not a myth.”

“Can you?” Stiles asked as he pushed himself up to his feet.

“No.”

“You wish you could?” Stiles asked. He swung the bat over his shoulder and nodded in the direction of the dirt track back towards the main road.

“Wouldn’t be my choice if I could or not,” Derek said, turning as Stiles did and they fell into an easy pace with one another.

“It just happens, when you need it, when you’re ready.” He said after a minute or so, “My Mom could do a full shift,”

“The big black wolf of Beacon Hills?” “Also known locally as an omen of death?”

“Yeah, She didn’t like either nickname.”

“Yeah well anything courtesy of the Daily Beacon is bound to be a little lacking in creativity,” Stiles said, “My mom had her fair share of names too. ”

“She like you?” Derek asked. 

“Succubus not an incubus but yeah. Female of the species.” Stiles said. Everything he said was coupled with hand movements. “She didn’t want to hurt Dad so she went out a couple of times a week to different towns. Dad was passed over for promotion because of the rumours about her,”

“Did your Dad always know why?”

“Oh yeah, she told him before they got together properly,”

“And he was okay with it?”

“I don’t know if they ever argued about it. If they did it wasn’t when I was in the room,”

“Not much to argue about if it was her nature.” Derek said.

“If you’re trying to convince me that I didn’t mean to hurt Malia, I already know that. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.” Stiles said. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stretched out his hoody.

“I think I’ve done something to Lydia too. When I was trying to get help, after Malia had passed out and wasn’t coming ‘round. I could barely see straight. I ran into Lydia and we both collapsed on the landing. They thought we all must have taken something but they couldn’t find anything in the blood tests and... She keeps hearing voices now. What If I did something to her too?”

“One supernatural coming of age can trigger others in the area. It wouldn’t be unusual.” Derek said. He kept his eyes on the path ahead but from the corner of his eye he caught Stiles watching him.

“It would have happened sooner or later. You’re in your late teens, it’s the time when most supernaturals change.”

“Still sucks. Besides they might not be supernatural so I can’t exactly tell them without ending up in Eichen or something.”

“That place is still running?” Derek grimaced at the memory of trying to sneak in there one time on a dare.

“Yeah. Just as creepy. I cross the street if I ever see any of the nurses or doctors in town. It’s like they can see straight through you and they’d put you in a straight jacket on the spot if they could.”

“My sister used to have a friend she visited up there. She said the place stank of death.”

“Yeah I don’t know why they haven’t been investigated,” Stiles wrung his hands together as he spoke, “Malia is the only person I’ve ever known leave the place,”

“Were you two close?”

“Not really. We just kind of ended up together out of all our friends. Out of boredom mostly I guess,” Stiles said and shrugged. A noise up ahead caught Derek’s attention. A small quick heartbeat that he half recognised and an intermittent short scratch of claws of tarmac. 

“Are you parked somewhere close?” Derek asked quickly.

“Yeah like just over this bank on the road.” Stiles said and waved in the direction Derek was already hyper-aware of.

“There’s something there. I think it’s the coyote,”

“The coyote that isn’t a coyote?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah.”

“You don’t think it could be-,” Stiles started and then without finishing he tried to dart past Derek. Derek grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

“It could just as likely be there for another reason.” Derek said as Stiles pulled back trying to tear himself free. He glared back at Derek

“It came back,” Stiles insisted. “ _She_ came back. You said she earlier.”

“It smelled like a female. That was before I knew it was a werecoyote.”

“Yeah, because a fully transformed coyote would change sex or disguise their scent,” Stiles said dryly, “And she didn’t attack us,”

“They’re skittish creatures. Shy. Most coyotes avoid human contact,”

“If it’s Malia I have to help her,”

“If it’s not her, you’re chasing after a wild coyote. And if it is, you can’t help her,”

“Then I’ll find someone who can!” He tore himself out of Derek’s grip and ran up the bank, tripping over his own feet and catching himself on the dirt with his hands. Derek was close on his heel but as they both looked down from the top of the bank they couldn’t spot the coyote in view. 

“Where is she?”

“I can still hear the heartbeat. I think it’s around the other side of the car. It’s relaxed. Resting maybe,” Derek said. 

“So not going to attack us.” Stiles said pointedly and then skidded down the bank. 

Derek caught his hand on a nearby tree and swung himself down the bank to avoid slipping on the mud. Stiles was already around the corner of the car and glancing around across the road and into bracken at the other side.

“Where is she?” He asked turning on the spot and heading towards the front of the car and the driver’s door. Derek tried to focus when Stiles cried out. Derek saw a blur of grey-brown fur dart across the road and Stiles braced himself on the side of the car gripping his ankle. It was unlikely that there were many coyotes about but he couldn’t be sure if it was the same one or not.

“She bit me!” Stiles yelled. 

“I don’t think she’s coming back.” Derek said as he listened to the coyote crash through the undergrowth, “You should get a tetanus shot,”

“Yeah, no. I’ll be okay. I don’t think she broke the skin. Just hurt through my jeans y’know,”

Derek looked Stiles up and down and found he wasn’t surprised. He looked up again into the preserve. 

“You’re going to say that we should head home right? That we can’t do anything out here whether that was Malia or not.” Stiles said. He ran a hand over the back of his neck and looked up sheepishly at Derek.

“If she’s stuck in that form she’ll need an alpha to bring her back. We don’t have that,”

“Yeah right. Okay.” Stiles said and nodded as he glanced back in the direction of the treeline. “Shall we go?” Stiles asked. He pulled his keys from his pocket, yanked the driver’s door open and had the car started before Derek had circled to the passenger side.

\--

The smell of charcoal still clung to his nose by the time Stiles pulled the Jeep into the driveway and Derek went up to his room rather than look at Stiles or hear whatever else he had to say. 

He grabbed a towel that had been left in the guest room for him and headed to shower to clear his mind and senses. When he returned a small rectangular parcel wrapped in newspaper lay on the bed.

It’s a picture of his family, framed in a simple wooden frame. He couldn’t think where anyone could have found it. It’d been wipe-cleaned from the look of the faint smears across the print and there’s still a patch towards the bottom right corner which hadn’t escaped the smoke damage. The smiling faces in the picture felt a long way into his past.

He heard a creak on the landing just outside his door and he looked up expecting Stiles to push the door open but the footsteps only hesitated for a moment before continuing on to his own room. Derek looked back down and then reached back to set the picture down on the nightstand. He pulled away and then leant back in to pick it up again and instead shoved it under his pillow out of sight.

Derek knocked gently on Stiles’ bedroom door and then opened it slowly to see Stiles face down on the bed covers. Stiles grunted in greeting. Derek waited a moment and then turned away and headed downstairs to the kitchen. He wasn’t a great cook but he could pull together a basic dinner. 

The sheriff was nowhere in the house and the car was gone from the drive so he assumed he’d headed back to work. Derek was just straining what he knew was too much pasta when he heard Stiles groan upstair. A few minutes later he shuffled through into the kitchen. 

Derek glanced up and snorted at the state of him. His clothes creased from his impromptu nap and his hair sticking out at all angles His arms were wrapped around what looks like case files and when Derek caught his eye his heart rate ticked up.

“Can I help you?” Stiles asked. Derek set down the pan and turned to lean back on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Thanks.” Derek said. Stiles looked up from the files and frowns at him. Derek stares back and waits for the question. 

“What?”

“For the picture.” Derek said, “Just, thanks.”

“Oh, uh. Yeah. You’re welcome,” Stiles said. He lifted the folders in his hands and set them down heavily on the table. “What’cha making?”

“Carbonara, I hope that’s okay,”

“Oh yeah, _me casa es su casa_ ,” Stiles said and waved a hand in Derek’s direction, nearly dropping the files in his hands as he did so.

“Your accent could use some work,“

“Shut up.”

Derek turned back to the stove and continued cooking. Behind him Stiles spread the papers across the table and whenever Derek glanced over his shoulder he had a different highlighter lid between his teeth and a pen in each hand. From the look of the layout of the pages it looked like a police case file rather than coursework as Derek had initially supposed. 

He sat down at the table opposite Stiles once he’d put the dinner in the oven to finish. Stiles didn't look up. Derek glanced over the pages closest to him and unease washed over him when he saw that his own surname littlered the pages. 

“Oh crap. You don’t have to look at all this stuff.” Stiles said quickly and pulled all the pages away from Derek’s side of the table in no particular order. Derek shook his head and looked up at the clock on the wall realising it was just time to take the food out of the oven. 

“You probably won’t spot anything the cops haven’t already found,” 

“Yeah but everything they found pointed to you which means they’re not looking well enough,” Stiles said with clear indignation.

“You’ve known me for just over a day,” Derek said. 

“And you didn’t do it. Look, maybe it could be that you were trying to incriminate someone or direct the investigation, but all this,” He gestured to the files now spread across the table, “Looks like someone's trying to do that to you,”

Derek pulled a couple of plates from the rack on the wall and began to plate up for himself and Stiles. Behind him the papers continued to be hastily removed from the table.

“Unless you’re going to confess now, I can get it all on tape.” He grabbed his phone from beside him and waved it in the air, “Make things easier for everyone,” Stiles said. Derek levelled him with an unimpressed look as he set the food down for each of them. “Yeah, I didn’t think so.”

\--

The next couple of days were quiet and Derek felt himself settle into the lives of Stiles and his father. Although the Sheriff insisted he didn’t have to cook he soon realised that both father and son would order in if they could and Stiles seemed more than happy with the idea of home cooked meals. He’d learnt that stiles had only spent the last few years especially concerned for his Dad’s eating habits and that the Sheriff was still railing against the prospect. He learnt that Stiles’ Mom had died when he was nine and Stiles had been held back a year at school when he’d missed so much school after his mom’s death. The Sheriff had driven himself mad thinking of all the things he had to protect his supernatural son from, including himself. 

When Derek went to retrieve his car he found someone had done their best to pour a pound of salt into the fuel tank and the faint smell of wolfsbane lingered all over the car. The least it did was reassure his unease that the hunters still lingered nearby. Likely not the Argents though, he reasoned. They’d never leave so many hints of their intentions around if they were laying a trap. He headed over to a local garage who said they’d pick it up when they could. 

Stiles had redone the protections around the house too. Derek had watched him complete some of them, curious when he only used a drop of blood from a pinprick to his finger each time. 

“Were you expecting us to have to slaughter a couple of goats or something?” he’d said, grinning when Derek asked questions about how the spells worked.

Derek had taken to holding his breath as he passed through any of the outside doors as the faint smell of blood hung in the air along with a static chill which buzzed his senses. Stiles laughed at him and asked if he held his breath or ran away whenever someone got a nosebleed, grazed their knee or was on their period. 

He wasn’t sure how it had happened but he liked easy friendship Stiles seemed to offer without thinking. A stack of books had appeared in his room and grew by a couple of new options each day, and he’d been invited along in a couple of days time to play lacrosse with Stiles and a couple of his friends. 

Derek was reading in his favourite seat at the kitchen table when Stiles arrived home. He had heard the Jeep arrive on the drive, and then heard Stiles drop his keys between the car and the front door. 

Stiles must have realised Derek was in the kitchen because he took a few quick running steps and came skidding into the kitchen across the linoleum.

“Yo,” Stiles said and grinned at Derek.

“You’re not cool,”

“Pfft, as if that was ever in question,” Stiles said and waved in Derek’s direction as he emptied his pockets and shrugged off his jacket. His phone, keys, tissue, a couple of receipts and a small bag of weed were all dumped on the table.

“Your dad’s the sheriff and you bring weed home?” Derek asked.

“This? I pickpocketed some guys at the mall. I don’t actually smoke the stuff. Why, you want some? Does weed even work for werewolves?”

“No,”

“I tried it a couple of times but it didn’t give me a good feeling y’know.” Stiles shrugged one shoulder, “Nah, this is for Ms Hoggett on the corner. She’s got pain in more places than you knew existed but she hasn’t been to a doctor in years, thinks they’re all trying to kill her,”

“In Beacon Hills they might be.”

“Yeah, true enough,” Stiles said. He blinked hard and then yawned and scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m gonna shower, try and shake off some of this.” He quickly picked up all the stuff from the table and turned for the door when Derek reached out for him and caught his arm.

“Is it something I could help with?”

“Uh yeah, well kind of. Do you get like, not hunger pains but like, something similar, when you need to shift?”

“Yeah, are you...”

“Yeah. Do you want to..?” Stiles nodded towards the stairs. Derek set his book down without looking away from Stiles. Stiles took a hesitant step backwards as Derek rounded the sofa. “Did you want me to use my uh, powers. Get things, uh, started?”

“No.” Derek said. He stepped up into Stiles’ space and tipped his head to one side as he looked Stiles up and down.

“Oh right, uh.” Derek reached out. He pulled Stiles’ t-shirt between his fingers. 

“I’m fine with what I agree to. I just don’t like the...influence,”

“Well no. I,” Stiles started to say when Derek leant in, he waited barely a hair’s breadth from Stiles’ lips. The items in Stiles’ hands dropped to the floor. “This is good too.” Stiles nodded and pushed against him with a rush fast and hard enough to put Derek back a few steps. 

Stiles’ hands bunched the front of Derek’s shirt in his hands and Derek felt a warmth rush through him. A need. A want. He shifted his stance quickly and lifted Stiles up off his feet. Stiles yelped and grabbed at him.

“Oh my God, are you a freaking caveman?” Stiles said as Derek took the stairs two at a time and then only another two steps until they were into Stiles’ room. Stiles pushed against Derek's shoulders. “You think you’ve got the balls to be in charge, big guy?” Stiles asked with a wicked grin, “What’re you going to do first?”

“I don’t know,” Derek said quietly and he felt Stiles run his nails through the hair at the back of his neck. Derek shut his eyes briefly and savoured the touch as he stepped carefully towards the bed. 

“Do you still want this fast? Get it over with, like last time,” Derek asked. 

“Not necessarily.” Stiles said, “I don’t even know what this is, but you are so hot.” His hand ran down Derek’s neck to his shoulder and then his chest but he never took his eyes from Derek’s, “So hot,” He muttered again.

Derek strode across to the bed, set Stiles down and kissed him hard as he pressed him into the pillows. 

“Slow. I want it slow.” Stiles said as he pulled away briefly. “I’m not-, Derek, I don’t want to use you. I want more. Can I? You-,”

“Yeah,” Derek muttered. “Whatever you want,” He said and began to press light kisses down Stiles’s neck as Stiles arms looped around his neck and his hips rolled up into him.

\--

Derek woke up slowly and was only vaguely aware that he was hugging something warm to his chest. For a brief moment he thought that Laura had crawled into bed with him.

“Can you tell when I’m awake?” Stiles asked and Derek in his sleep addled state groaned before replying.

“Only when I’m awake,” Derek muttered after the long moment it took him to realise he was being spoken to, “And concentrating,” He added.

“You awake now?” Stiles asked

“No.” Derek grumbled and turned his head further into the pillow and scrunched his eyes closed tighter against the morning light. Short hair pressed against his neck and chin as Stiles burrowed into both the covers and Derek’s side closer.

He shifted one arm around Stiles’ side and over his back. He ran his fingers up and down over Stiles’ spine. 

Stiles sighed and Derek stilled his hand and drifted back to sleep.

When he next woke up Stiles was lying on his back staring up at the ceiling. Derek wasn’t going to reach out for Stiles again. It had been nice to hold someone again; someone who seemed to care. He knew he’d been falling for the whole idea of being part of a family again and in that there was only risk.

Stiles glanced over and blinked in surprise when he realised Derek was watching him.

“You feeling alright?”

“Not paralyzed. It’s better than last time,” Derek muttered

“It’s a bonus, ‘cause I like you,”

“What a relief. I thought you did this with all the guys,”

“Shut up.” Stiles snapped and threw out an arm as though he were going to shove Derek but hesitated and recoiled his arm. “Were you..feeling alright earlier?”

“Think so.”

“Ok.” Stiles said and immediately bit his bottom lip.

“What?” Derek asked. He wished he’d shut his eyes and fallen back asleep while he was still enjoying his recovery.

“How are you feeling?”

“Didn’t you already ask that?” Derek asked, shutting his eyes and listening to the quick rhythm of Sitles’ heart. It always seemed to be racing, from stress or excitement; his every new idea or conversation with his dad or his friends. Right now it was stress. Derek reached out a hand to Stiles’ wrist to double check that he wasn’t in any pain. Stiles twisted out of his reach.

“No. I asked if you were alright. Now I’m asking how you’re feeling.” He said firmly.

“Why are you asking?” Derek asked.

“Because I think I’m influencing you.” Stiles said quickly. “Because it’s kind of an incubi thing that we can do, and I know you didn’t want me to like whammy you and I swear I didn’t mean to, if I did. But I don’t know if I did but you were being like, affectionate and like you said before, we’ve only known each other for a couple of days but you’re like… you. So maybe I’m doing it subconsciously y’know.” As Stiles rambled Derek pushed himself up against the pillows. Stiles barely spared him a glance and his hands never stopped moving. 

“And just, like. Even now I’ve said it I don’t know whether I am doing it to you, and If I am I wouldn’t know how to stop it. My Mom was always really careful not to use that sort of power on my Dad because it’s important that you know your own mind and feelings, and what if I’m doing that to you,”

Derek rolled over as Stiles took his next breath between words. He held himself over Stiles each of his forearms on the pillow either side of Stiles’s head. Stiles stopped breathing and stared up at him. His heart was racing and the edge of fear crept into the smell of his sweat. 

“You want to hurt me?” Derek asked. Stiles shook his head against the pillow.

“N-no,”

“I know.” Derek leant down and kissed him. Stiles kissed back, straining up to meet him but the first he felt of Stiles’ hands they were pushing him away.

“This should absolutely not be a thing you are happy with,” Stiles said as he pushed Derek back. “I need to research.” Stiles said and slipped from beneath Derek in a quick movement. He grabbed a shirt, pants and his laptop and headed out of the room and down the stairs.

Derek sighed and rolled over towards the wall. He stared at a particular dent in the plaster for a couple of minutes before he rolled over again, grabbed some clothes and went in search of Stiles. 

He found him sat at the kitchen table reading from the tomb of spells he’s used for the protection spells of the house. Derek sat in the chair next to him and waited.

“I’m not rejecting you.” Stiles said, “That’s important ‘cause like in some cases if I’ve influenced you, you might want me to want you too. And I would be so down for this if I didn’t think I was making you do this,”

“I know.” Derek said and nodded when Stiles looked up. “You’re worried but you’ll fix it.”

“Please don’t tell my Dad that I might have mind whammied you,” Stiles said as he flipped through pages of the grimoire, “Or tell him when you’re convinced I’ve fixed it. Anyway, if I can figure out what I did to begin with, I’ll be closer to sleeping again. Wait, why are you so convinced I’ll be able to fix this?” Stiles asked, frowning. Derek hesitated for a moment. He couldn’t think of a reason not to trust Stiles. He shrugged.

“You’re an easy person to trust,” Derek said and Stiles’ frown remained.

“Yeah, you’re definitely under a spell. No one would ever willingly say that,”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Don’t fall in love with me.” Stiles said and pointed a finger at Derek. Derek rolled his eyes and pushed himself up from the seat. He set about making coffee and when it was done he set Stiles’ down on the table opposite his so it wasn’t in danger of being knocked to the floor and he headed for the living room with his own in search of the book he’d been reading.

\--

Despite staring at the page for at least five minutes he couldn’t remember anything from it.

He looked up when he heard the front door open and shut and after a short conversation in the kitchen the Sheriff stepped into view.

“Derek,” He said and nodded in greeting. “Everything alright?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“So that,” He gestured back to the kitchen, “Is nothing for me to be concerned about?”

“These are not the droids you’re looking for!” Stiles shouted from the next room. Derek snorted and when the Sheriff fixed him with a look he shrugged.

“I don’t think so.” Derek said. The Sheriff huffed and nodded sharply before heading up the stairs and to the main bedroom.

\--

Derek fell asleep on the sofa, the book propped on his knee and listening to Stiles scribbling and shuffling papers in the kitchen.

He woke to a dark room and someone pulling at his arm and he tensed, balling his hand into a fist and pulling back against them. Something heavy dropped to the floor, his book Derek presumed.

“Yeah, yeah yeah. Just hold still a second, okay?” Stiles said. Derek’s eyes began to adjust better t the low light and he saw Stiles tying something around his wrist. “There. How do you feel?”

“Like I’ve just been woken up,” Derek deadpanned

“But no undying love or insatiable urges to be affectionate?”

“I didn’t before,”

“Right, well. This is going to make me feel better about what we do okay. It’ll stop me from influencing you unless I really put effort into it and considering I don’t really know what I’m doing in that regard,”

“You don’t know about influence but you can make a friendship bracelet to prevent it working?” Derek asked skeptically

“I know how to stop a werewolf bite from turning someone too, but I don’t know how it actually changes someone's genetics so they become a werewolf,”

“You can’t stop a bite from turning someone unless the person dies,”

“Not true. Some of the runes are the same as this.” Stiles pulled at the tie at Derek’s wrist. “And there’s some other stuff too but it works. It’s old Romanian witchery. It worked on my friend Scott when some rogue bit him about six months ago,”

“Beacon Hills always did have a lot of supernatural activity,” Derek said, again eyeing the thin band of braided fabrics and string interwoven with small square runes which he thought could have been carved into bits of popsicle stick.

“I know, man, it’s like ridiculous that anyone lives here at all,”

“What time is it?” Derek asked. 

“Like three or something. I’m going to bed as soon as I’ve tidied up. Dad will be able to figure out what happened just by looking at what’s scattered around the kitchen, I swear,”

 

As Derek watched Stiles duck back into the kitchen he honestly couldn’t tell the difference. He knew that right in this moment he had no overwhelming desire to kiss or touch Stiles, but when he had, Stiles had needed that, and he wanted to do it again when Stiles wanted that too.

\--

Stiles had assured Derek that the twists of fabric, wooden squares and copper wire around his wrist were enough of a protection against his influence and by the time the band wore away, the fabric faded and the wire snapped, Derek would have developed his own immunity of sorts to Stiles’ powers. He had wondered how it would affect his own werewolf abilities but after a few shifts and checks in the mirror he seemed to be unaffected by the band at his wrist. 

Stiles acted more freely too and when they did have sex, without Stiles’ incubi influence, it was easy and fun. Derek let himself enjoy each moment while it lasted, every grin shot his way and casual touch. In his sleep addled state Derek still found himself with his arms around Stiles as he slept off the drain of Stiles’ feeding. Stiles touched him freely and it felt as though he had the makings of a pseudo pack with how his scents and the Stilinskis’ settled around him. 

Stiles invited him to join in a lacrosse game with his friends and they headed to meet them up in a clearing near the preserve. 

Derek didn’t want to flash his eyes to check but he had the distinct impression that Kira was a supernatural, a kitsune if his instincts were correct. Stiles hadn’t mentioned it so it was possible she’d kept it hidden from them. He took a seat on the bench next to her as she hastily repaired the net on her Lacrosse stick and chatted about where she wanted to go travelling around Asia before college.

Stiles and Scott had headed to the cars to round up a couple more of their friends and Derek could hear them on their way back. Derek could hear Scott asking about him.

“He’s my boyfriend, Scott,” Stiles said and Derek found that he’d completely tuned out what Kira was saying in favour of eavesdropping on the other conversation.

“Seriously?” Scott said and a faint thump and cry told Derek that Stiles has hit him, “He doesn’t exactly seem like your type,”

“Are you kidding? First of all, I think anyone but Greenburg has been my type but, Scotty, I really like him,”

“Ok,”

“Ok? What’s ok?”

“Congrats. Congratulations on your hot boyfriend. now can we get back to the game? I’m trying to impress Kira,”

Beside Derek, Kira snorted and ducked her head.

“I’m not laughing at you and Stiles, I swear. It's just you were distracted by each other the whole ride over” She said “Are they talking tactics?”

“Not Lacrosse tactics.”

“Oh my God,”

“Hey, so Jackson, Danny this is Derek. The twins aren’t coming and Boyd had a shift. Erica’s dragging Isaac to wherever we decide to get food afterwards so we’ll see them later,”

“So teams?”

“Dibs not on Stilinski’s” Jackson said first and Stiles flipped him the bird in return. 

“How good are you at Lacrosse?”

“I was always better at basketball,” Derek said and shrugged one shoulder. 

“Too bad, I call Stiles and Kira,” Scott called out. 

“Fine,”

“Huddle until the ref gets here,”

“Ref?”

“Lydia and Allison are heading up here in about five minutes,” Stiles said. Derek dipped his head and turned in towards Stiles.

“Argent?” Derek asked. He’d heard Stiles mention her before and a heavy lump settled in his stomach. 

“Would it help if I said I won’t take my eyes off you?” Stiles asked and knocked Derek’s side with his elbow.

“Better hope the ball doesn’t hit you in the face then,” Derek said.

“Hey! Stop corrupting my team!” Jackson yelled across to them. Stiles held up his middle finger to him, grinned at Derek as he jogged backwards a few steps before turning and taking off towards Scott. Derek shook his head and turned towards Jackson and Danny.

“If you think you’re going to give the match away to Stilinski, Danny and I can carry this on our own y’know,” Jackson said as soon as Derek was within a few few of them.

“Don’t be a jerk,” Danny said and Jackson huffed and glared across at Stiles and the other team. 

“Fine, but we’re playing to win, got it?” Jackson snapped. Derek wondered why he’d agree to come out to play, and why Stiles was friends with him at all. 

“Watch out for Kira, She’ll go for your shins,” Danny said. Derek nodded but with his quick healing he didn’t expect keeping up to be too much trouble..

Over the course of the next hour he soon realized that he should have taken Jackson and Danny’s words to heart a little more. The girls reffing the match seemed amused more than anything at the sight of Kira attacking the opposing team, only calling her out when another player hit the ground. Kira knocked him clear off his feet only once and it seemed that no sooner had Danny offered him a hand back up to his feet than a heavy tackle from Stiles had him nearly losing his footing again. The full moon would rise in a few hours and he could feel himself getting more easily distracted.

“Need me to kiss anything better yet?” Stiles asked as he scooted around Derek and gestured for Scott to throws him the ball. Scott passed to Kira instead who twisted on the spot and shot it towards the goal only to be stopped by Danny.

“I should be so lucky,” Derek muttered and jogged back towards an opening space to catch the ball from Danny’s pass. 

A high pitched yip turned howl cut stopped their game dead and the ball ran off the field into the undergrowth. The howl cut off and everyone looked to each other.

“Mom said that there was a mountain lion out here,” Kira said uneasily.

“That’s a coyote, not a mountain lion,” Danny said as he stepped away from the goal and towards the group of players towards the centre of the field. 

“There’ve still been animal attacks,” Kira said

“Why did we come up here anyway, couldn’t we have just broken into the school and used their pitch?” Jackson asked, glancing sharply to Stiles.

“Because you were only invited to make up numbers, that’s why.” Stiles snapped in reply. The coyote’s howl came again and a deeper wolf’s howl joined it. Derek’s blood ran cold and all the teens around him shifted back a step. The wolf’s howl pulled at something deep in his gut. As an omega wolf he should want a pack but at the same time facing an alpha would be dangerous under any circumstances. Still, if it was nearby it must know about the coyote already and likely knew about himself.

“We’ll I’m not sticking around to get rabies, or worse.” Jackson said. “Danny, you coming?”

“Yeah. Should we find the ball?”

“It’s Stilinski’s. He can find it.” Jackson said. He kept casting wary looks in the direction of the animal cries and Derek could smell his fear in the air. Derek rolled his eyes. The coyote could have easily circled them by now, though he hadn’t heard any movement in the bushes nearby not to mention the wolf.

“I don’t have to be at the clinic til five, want to get some food at the diner on the way back into town?” Scott suggested.

“Sounds good,” Kira said, “You guys coming too?” She asked.

“I’m game,” Allison said as she hopped off the bench, “Lydia?” Lydia seemed transfixed, staring of into the trees. Allison reached out to touch her arm and she jumped.

“Are you alright?” Allison asked. 

“I’m not hungry. Stiles will you give me a lift home?” Lydia said

“I, - uh, Sure,” Stiles said and nodded. 

“I can drop you home, Lyds, I don’t mind,” Jackson volunteered and Derek was certain it was the first nice thing he’d said since arriving.

“No, you go with Danny. Allison can go with Scott and Kira to the diner,” Lydia said. Derek looked to Stiles who shrugged one shoulder.

The groups separated and headed back towards where they’d left their cars. Stiles turned towards him but before he could say anything Derek handed over his lacrosse stick and levelled him with a steady look.

“You should head back into town. I’ll meet you later.” He said. Stiles’s expression turned to indignation as he shifted the stick to one hand and leant it over his shoulder.

“No. Freaking. Way.” Stiles said.

“It’s Malia isn’t it?” Lydia said behind them.

“It’s a coyote.” Derek said at the same time Stiles replied with, “We don’t know.”

“There’s an alpha out there Stiles. You need to get out of here.” Derek said. 

“And leave you? Not while you’re delusional.” Stiles scoffed 

“I’m not delusional.”

“You are if you think I’m leaving,” Stiles said and shoved one hand against Derek’s chest.

“She’s here,” Lydia said from beside them. Derek looked up to see the coyote padding out of the treeline. He turned to face it and pushed Stiles behind him with one hand. He was allowed that at least even if he could feel Stiles only a couple of inches behind him.

The coyote ahead of them kept her gaze on them as she paced up and down a few metres of the treeline.

“What’s it waiting for?” Lydia asked, shifting towards Stiles as she spoke.

“I don’t know, I don’t speak coyote,” Stiles said. 

“You’re the one who's been investigating this stuff,”

Derek tried to tune them out, and focus ahead of himself. Something was moving through the trees. A figure he couldn't make out yet. A familiar scent hit him as the man cleared the treeline and even at a hundred metres away when the alpha flashed his eyes, Derek’s wolf rose within him. The scent wasn’t enough to revive the pack bond but Derek was certain he knew who it was, despite not seeing his uncle in years.

The alpha walked towards them, the coyote at his heels and Derek heard Stiles take a step backwards and closer to Lydia as they neared. Derek balled his hand into a fist and then flexed it out slowly as his claws grew out. 

“I suppose I shouldn’t have expected a better welcome after you abandoned me in that hospital for years.”

“How did you become an Alpha?”

“With great regret,” Peter said and Derek saw regret in his eyes as he glanced back towards the trees. “I wasn’t entirely clear headed at the time,”

“And you are now?”

“Now I have a purpose,” Peter said as he looked back at him “Are you, your mate and your little friend going to join me, or attempt to kill me?”

“Hey, Derek. If we kill him we have to hide the body. I’m not going to speak for anyone else but I have zero experience of that so…”

“What are you doing to her?” Derek nodded to the coyote.

“Whoa, hey, you know him?” Stiles said. He pinched Derek’s arm

“She was acting quite lost. Needed a pack, an Alpha.”

“She doesn’t deserve to be stuck like that,” Derek said.

“She’ll change back when she’s ready.” Peter shrugged carelessly 

“She was triggered into a shift, she may not know how.” Derek said. Behind him Stiles’ scent gained an undertone of guilt. Peter looked over Derek’s shoulder and raised an eyebrow. 

“You can help her change back.” Stiles said. 

“I could,”

“So do it.” Lydia demanded. She burst forwards and Derek questioned not for the first time why he felt responsible for them both.

“It may interest you to know that I was recently comatose,” Peter said and shot a look at Derek and then back to Lydia, “Demanding things of me is not going to get the answer you’d like,”

“She recognises you as pack, it won’t be hard,”

“Very well. You may want to stand back a little,”

“Get back to the car.” Derek turned to Stiles and shot a look to Lydia.

“You trust him?”

“I grew up with him.”

“That’s not a yes.” Stiles said. Derek levelled him with a look. “Fine, I’ll go if we all go. Lydia?”

“If you don’t turn her back I’ll be the first one to find you,” Lydia said. 

“Would you know how to?”

“If she doesn’t, I will.”

“Really Derek, your taste in companions hasn’t changed, has it?”

Derek stayed quiet and waited for both Lydia and Stiles to retreat before shooting a look back to his uncle and following them back to Stiles’ Jeep.

“Do you trust him?”

“I grew up with him?”

“He’s your brother?” Lydia asked.

“Uncle,”

“Doesn’t mean you trust him,” Stiles muttered. He unlocked the Jeep and they climbed in to wait. 

“He doesn’t feel like pack anymore.” Derek said.

“That’s hardly promising,” Stiles said with a huff and sank into his seat. 

“What do we do if he doesn’t-” Lydia’s question was cut off as a bellowing howl sounded. Derek felt his own eyes flash and he wanted to call back. Something powerful and familiar in his uncle’s howl that, as he was an omega, called to Derek in a way he tried to push down. 

His heart was racing and he dug his emerging claws into his palms. There was something twisted in his uncle that he didn’t want to give himself over to. But the call was infectious and he wanted to throw open the Jeep’s door. He could feel the bile in the back of his throat from fighting the urge. 

He looked up when Stiles clamped his hand around Derek’s wrist. 

He wasn’t sure how long he stared back at Stiles.

“It’s Malia!” Lydia exclaimed and shot from the car. Stiles tore his gaze away from Derek but he didn’t release his hold on Derk’s wrist.

“She’s back.”

“Are you going to go to her?” Derek asked quietly. He daren’t look up and see the girl that he knew Stiles would pick over him. Her supernatural biology made his presence redundant. The strength of the hurt was an unwelcome shock. Stiles looked back at him.

“You’ve been waiting for this all the time I’ve known you,” Derek said. He set a hand over Stiles’s where it was still wrapped around his arm. He intended to pulled it away but didn’t. “Stiles?”

Stiles pushed himself across the centre console and kissed Derek hard. Derek felt his heart drop to his gut as Stiles’ hands were in his hair and his smell was intoxicating despite its sharp edge of sadness.

When he couldn’t take it anymore he pushed Stiles away and reached for the car door.

“This isn’t right.” Derek said.

“What?” Stiles asked but Derek couldn’t look up let alone answer him. He opened the door and started to walk. Behind him he heard the driver’s door open and slam shut. “Where are you going?” Stiles called out to him.

Derek kept walking.

\--

He knew he had to go back to the Stillinskis’ house at the very least to collect his things. He could reasonably leave town by now, the investigation had run into too many dead ends for them to continue to consider him dangerous and he’d been lucky not to run into any more hunters. 

The house was empty when he arrived. No cars in the driveway and no lights on in any of the windows. He let himself in with the key he’d been gifted, grabbed a plastic grocery bag from the kitchen and headed upstairs. Although things had accumulated around him very little of it was his but before he could collect a thing he dropped heavily onto the edge of the bed and dropped his head to his hands. 

 

The carrier bag was more than enough for his belongings. Last of all, resting on top of a stack of t-shirts he’d bought from Goodwill, was the framed photo of his family. He almost felt like he should leave it behind, along with the hoody that Stiles had bought him and the watch the Sheriff had given to him.

He set the key on the table just inside the front door and stepped outside, pulling the door shut behind him. He’d taken only to steps away from the house when Stiles’ Jeep rounded the corner of the drive.

“Hey, I’ve been trying to call you. I thought creepy uncle alpha had abducted you or something.”

“I never caught up with my uncle. He won’t be going far if Malia is his only Beta though.”

“What’s with the,” Stiles waved to the bag in his hand. Derek grimaced. “Are you leaving?” Stiles asked.

“Malia’s back. She’s supernatural. It makes sense.”

“You know who missed Malia more than anyone?” Stiles asked. Derek looked up to see him taking careful steps towards him as though he were now the wild animal. “It wasn’t me who was kissing her the moment I saw her.” Stiles said. Derek frowned. Stiles didn’t seem upset despite saying that someone else had been kissing his girlfriend. 

“You seriously didn’t look up?” Stiles said, “Lydia was right there man!”

“Malia and Lydia?”

“I am not getting in the way of that,” Stiles said and waved a hand in the air to gesture “I drove her back to the hospital and they were in the backseat, being as handsy and I thought I’d be getting with my boyfriend.”

“We’re not boyfriends.” Derek said flatly and immediately regretted his words when Stiles’ face fell.

“Right,” Stiles said shortly.

“I’d like to take you on a date though,” Derek said. Time seemed to slow down for the few seconds it took for Stiles to look up and hurt turned to relief.

“Seriously?” Stiles yelled. He stormed into Derek’s space and shoved him hard in the chest, “Asshole!” Stiles huffed and glanced down at the bag in Derek’s hand.

“I was going to get my car,” Derek explained.

“Fine let’s go and get your car, even though we both know that you were running away.” Stiles said. He slipped his hand into Derek’s free one and tugged Derek in the direction of the street until they walked side by side. “It makes me feel even less sorry about the present I got for you.”

“Why would you feel sorry about a present?”

“Well I guess you’ll have to stick around to find out.”

\--

The present was a leather harness. Two thick straps that crossed his chest and met at a metal ring over his chest bone. Stiles hooked a finger through it and pulled him up to meet him. 

“Come with me to college.” Stiles said. 

“I’ve already done college once.” Derek said

“Then visit me twice a week,” Stiles said between kisses. Derek couldn’t think clearly enough to respond. Stiles leant back and looked down at him. “Do you know how many STIs are are spread around in college towns? There could be hunters, or someone who wants to kidnap me for my sexual powers or, what if I forget to feed because I’m trying so hard to get good grades and then-” Derek cut him off with a hand over his mouth.

“Your Dad’s already asked me. I’ve been looking for a job there, and an apartment for us,” Derek said. Beneath his hand he felt Stiles’ smile. Stiles pushed his hand away sharply and kissed him. Derek was vaguely aware that the motion had snapped the tie from around his wrist.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my incredibly patient (And surely frustrated) beta reader 1989dreamer.


End file.
